puking foam, co2 pressure, fridge running

[3xo]

well ive been trying to get my kegerator working well for about a week and a half now, and it keeps giving me the same issues-

the second i pull on the handle it almost burps foam at me, than the rest of the glass is all foam, i figured it was too warm so i turn the thermostat to max and left it for a day, the temp strip i have stuck to the keg says around 39 and after the first glass it worked... the problems now are:

(the fridge is a kenmore elite 4.9 with back plate for cooling, i shanked through the door near the top of the fridge)

-the fridge works constantly and there is a tube of ice wrapped around one of the pipes in back.
-the first beer still burps and i notice that when i let it sit for awhile there is ~4+ inches of air in the beer line right above the tap
-i have the co2 set low (at around 5-6) because it seems to come out incredibly fast and make the foam problem much worse if it set it at the 12psi recommended

ive got a log of killians irish red in there right now, which has to go back on friday and ive managed to pull about 6 good beers off it total...
please help

-Jeff

[jmc1972]

Hi Jeff - I'm a noob and had similar problems. What is your elevation? Also, how how long is your beer line and what the ID? Where is the unit located? From the research and help I've gotten here your psi is too low.

Do an advanced search under my username - jmc1972 and read the posts. there are a few which may help you with your issue.

[3xo]

low altitude, im from CT the line is 5' and its the standard micromatic conversion kit, the unit is in the kitchen currently.. ill try that search

[3xo]

i tried turning the co2 pressure up to around 12psi and that just seemed to increase the initial spit of co2 i got, which made the beer splash and begin to foam

[jmc1972]

Have you verified the liquid temp? Place a thermometer in a glass of water in the unit and wait until tomorrow to see the true liquid temp. I have a 7 degree differential between my unit and my liq temp. My liquid temp is verified at 36 degrees and the unit temp is 7 degrees higher.

Also, have you tried turning off the co2 valve at the bottom of your regulator (the hose that connects to the coupling), bleeding out the current pressure and repressurizing the keg? Check all of you connections (do you have bubbles flowing from the keg upward into the line and/or bubbles forming in the hose at the shank? You may have too loose of a connection. You may also want to check the rubber O-Rings on the coupler, the beer line, etc to ensure you have no breaks, cracks, etc.

One last ? - is this your first keg or have you had other beer in it? If you had other beer in it prior to this keg, did you clean the lines and faucet?

Based on everything I've learned you've either got a leak, over carbonated keg, or liq. temp is not low enough.

[3xo]

how do i go about bleeding the keg? the bubbles seem to be coming right out of the beer itself and settling into air pockets where ever the hose has a high point

[jmc1972]

You should have a valve on the coupler with a small ring attached to a pin (sorry don't know exactly what it's called). Grab a pair of pliers and pull it out and you will here the pressure leave the keg - again, be sure to shut off the ball valve from the regulator to the keg.

If you can find it then take some pics of your coupler on all sides and post and I'll look for it.

Hope this helps!!!

[3xo]

thanks i appreciate it, since this is only a log i might try a 1/4 barrel next time of something a little lighter like coors. Generally speaking do you seem to have more trouble with darker/thicker beers? i know foam from the killians i have in there now is very thick

[jmc1972]

I've not run anything other than Coors Light and Michelob Ultra through my system. I'm the planning stages to add a Guiness system and double tap with a Nitro/co2 mixture only running to the Guiness. It's going to be interesting to see how I get it to work.

[beer4u&me]

Something else you may not have checked (assuming you tried what was written above and still have not solved the problem). I'm not going to assume you're as dense as I am since I TRULY deserve the "bone-head of the year award" for what I'm about to tell you.

I tried everything under the sun and everything listed here and I STILL had problems. After 2 days of frustration I figured out what the problem was after dismateling the whole system.

I had the CO2 line and the dispensing line switched with one another. I reconnected THE RIGHT WAY and wouldn't you know, I was drinking ice cold carbonated beer

I HOPE this isn't your problem (for the sake of posterity) but I never found a forum or discussion which instructed me to consider the possibility.

Good luck, I hope this forum helps you.